XDA News Articles

A few days ago, Google finally released factory images for mobile versions of Nexus 7 and Nexus 7 (2013). The waiting period was quite long, as Google had a 3 month delay to provide the update. It was a bit of a weird situation, but it's definitely nice to see the factory images being released. Flashing the factory image might be problematic as the device must be unlocked and flashing wipes all the data stored on the device. It's a...

It's been over a week since Google released the full source code for Android Lollipop. We've seen quite a few ports made by the community. However, one thing was still missing: factory images for Nexus 5, 7, and 10. Earlier today, we talked about how the Nexus 7 2012 WiFi images were found a bit early, but the rest were nowhere to be seen. Finally, after almost two weeks, Google engineers pressed the shiny green button and the factory images...

Update: Thank you to commenter Amith KK for letting us know about the Source-Built Lollipop port for the Nexus 7 (2012) by XDA Senior Member MidnightNinja. ___ The source code for Android 5.0 Lollipop was only fully released yesterday, but developers on XDA work extremely quickly. In less than one day, some developers have managed to create Lollipop builds for particular devices. Let's see which devices are capable of using Lollipop as a daily driver so far. It was easy...

It's now been a little less than two months since Google I/O 2014. While the Mountain View giant talked about quite a few new technologies and releases during the conference, most of us here at XDA-Developers were undoubtedly most excited about Android L and the associated Developer Preview images for the Nexus 5 (hammerhead) and the WiFi-only edition of the Nexus 7-2013 (razor). During the time we've had with the dev preview, we've all gotten a better taste of what Android L...

Update: As pointed out by XDA Forum Member a3361035 in the comments below, this isn't a complete release just yet. Rather, these are just a few GPL projects for the L-Preview release, and not a full platform update. __ As we mentioned earlier today, the Android L Developer Preview is exactly that--a developer preview. However, many users understandably want to taste the future of Android today. As such, quite a few Nexus 5 and 7 owners have ventured to install the Android L...

Are you running the Android L Developer Preview? If so, your day's about to get a little bit sweeter! This test firmware was released for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2013) yesterday. And in the time since, we've put it through its paces to see just how far Google has come in releasing this new test firmware. But do you know what else has been accomplished since then? Yep, you guessed it. Root has been achieved. If you're running the L...

It's now been several hours since the release of the Android L Developer Preview Images. Undoubtedly, many of you reading this have already loaded the preview firmware onto your Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 (2013). However, not everyone is lucky enough to own one of these devices--and even if you have an N5 or N7 by your side, you may not be willing to wipe your data in order to flash test images. In the time since release, we've been poking and prodding at the Android L...

Three weeks and one day ago, the WiFi-only variant of the Nexus 7 (2013), along with essentially all other currently supported Nexus devices, received its update to Android 4.4.3 in the form of updated factory restore images. Just one day later, the device then received its official OTA update to the 4.4.3 goods. And then five days ago, Android 4.4.4 was released for all current Nexus devices except for the LTE-enabled Nexus 7 (2013). Over the course of the last three weeks,...

Well, that was unexpected! After dozens of leaks leading up to the eventual release of Android 4.4.3, Android 4.4.4 has suddenly arrived without so much as a moment's notice. The update itself has not yet begun rolling out to actual end user devices, but just like what we saw with 4.4.3 KTU84M, the factory images have been posted for the majority of the current generation Nexus fleet. Today’s Android 4.4.4 builds come in at KTU84P for the Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 7 (2013),...

It's here, folks! After a false alarm a few months ago, several rumors along the way, and update documentation courtesy of T-Mobile earlier today, we now have Android 4.4.3 for the current generation of Nexus devices. Today's builds come in at KTU84M for the Nexus 5, and KTU84L for the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 7 (2013), and Nexus 10. According to T-Mobile's support documentation released earlier today, these updates bring “security enhancements,” as well as “various bug fixes.” At this point, it...

Update: They're here for the Nexus 4, 5, 7 (both), and 10! Head over to this post to get in on the action! You may recall back in the middle of April, Sprint erroneously stated that Android 4.4.3 would begin rolling out to the Nexus 5. We now know that this didn't quite come to pass, as all of our Nexus devices are still currently officially running Android 4.4.2. Now, however, we have reason to believe that Android 4.4.3 may finally begin rolling out...

Most of us buy Nexus devices because of their timely updates featuring the latest and greatest that Google has to offer. And if you're the proud owner of an LTE-enabled Google Nexus 7 (2013), you likely noticed a small incremental OTA update that began rolling out a few days ago, which bumps up the Android version from 4.4.2_r1 (KOT49H) to 4.4.2_r2 (KVT49L). The fine folks over at FunkyAndroid have created a detailed changelog showing all of the commits that have been...

Ever wonder how despite its less than jaw dropping specifications, the Moto X still manages to score quite well in many benchmarks? Unlike some of the other major OEMs out there, Motorola doesn't rely on benchmark-specific application detection and questionable "optimizations." Rather, they actually employ genuine speed tweaks, in the form of optimized Bionic and Dalvik libraries. But before delving further to learn about how you can use optimized libraries to improve the performance on your own Qualcomm-based Nexus device, let's...

As you're making your way down the list of things to try with your newly acquired tech toys, one thing you'll undoubtedly get around to is flashing a custom ROM. Those looking for aftermarket firmware now have one more Android 4.4.2-based option, as the AOKP team has just finished incorporating Google's latest and greatest into their nightly builds. Currently, Android 4.4.2-based nightly builds are available for the Google Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy...

Once again, all of us here at XDA would like to wish you a Happy Holiday Season! Undoubtedly, many of our happy readers are waking up to some extra Holiday cheer in the form of shiny new tech acquisitions. Luckily, XDA is here and has your back in helping you make the most of your new, Android-powered tech toy(s). You may remember that a little while ago, we shared with you our Best of 2013 Holiday Gift Guide. Now, we're...

As you all know, AOSP is the purest form of Android. All Nexus devices are shipped with relatively clean Android, baked by Google engineers. Constant and frequent updates make it a quite interesting position for all Android enthusiasts. But AOSP is pretty barebone, as it lacks many of the key features of skinned ROMs that many of us have come to enjoy. This is when the brilliant Xposed Framework enters the picture. A few months ago, we talked about an...

Just two days ago, we wrote about how Android 4.4.2 was rolling out to the most recent Nexus devices. This was only four days after the Android 4.4.1 roll out. And earlier today, we took a quick look at what changed from 4.4 to 4.4.2. Now, we're glad to report that the Android 4.4.2 source code has made its way over to the AOSP, and factory restore images are now available for the Google Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 7...

Google likes surprises---we all know that. Four days after releasing the Android 4.4.1, they decided to push out Android 4.4.2, which is a bugfix release of a bugfix release. It's probably one of the fastest releases in the history of the company. A full list of improvements is still unknown, and hopefully we will notice what has been changed when the source comes out. Thanks to Sprint's community moderator 4Social, we know that build KOT49H brings the following improvements: -...

Android 4.4.1 KitKat is now available for the Nexus 7 (2013) WiFi-only version. Official KitKat is also available for the Nexus 10! That and much more KitKat news is covered by Jordan, as he reviews all the important stories from this weekend. Included in this week's news is the announcement that 2011 Sony Ericsson Xperia Devices get unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat and the article talking about browsing every AOSP code commit in Android 4.4.1 KitKat! In other important news, Jordan...

Just yesterday, Android 4.4.1 went from rumor to reality thanks to Google's Director of Android Engineering Dave Burke, who shared a few details about what 4.4.1 would bring with regards to the Nexus 5. Then we saw the first few Android 4.4.1 OTAs trickle out for lucky Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and Nexus 7 (2013) LTE device owners. We also saw the release of the Android 4.4.1 source code to the AOSP later in the evening. While Google has been delivering...

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